Farmington Man Shot Bear Cub

FARMINGTON — A Bonnie Drive resident shot a bear cub that he feared would attack his dog in his back yard Wednesday morning, police said.

The bear cub was paralyzed by the shot from the pellet gun and had to be put down. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is investigating.

DEEP spokesman Dwayne Gardner said the homeowner will not be charged.

"The cub was injured, but not killed by the homeowner and had to be euthanized due to its injuries," he said. "It was determined the homeowner did not intend to kill the bear and was in his rights to protect his domestic pet."

The resident told police his dog was in the back yard when he noticed three bears, a mother and two cubs, by the tree line.

When one of the cubs approached the dog in an aggressive manner, the resident grabbed his pellet gun from the garage and fired one round at the cub, police said.

He assumed the shot would scare the bears away. He brought his dog inside the house and returned a few moments later to see the bears still in his yard. One of them was not moving, police said.

He called police at 9:11 a.m. to report the incident. The DEEP tranquilized the mother and the other cub while they euthanized the injured cub, police said.